Mr. Speaker, we have had a number of studies done; for example, by the environment commissioner, federally, who said that the federal and provincial governments are not prepared for an oil spill, for the existing oil spill risks that we already have in our marine environment. We have had repeated evidence, both heard at the National Energy Board and refused by the National Energy Board, that said it is not clear at all that there is any proven response to how bitumen would interact with a marine environment. However, based on the Kalamazoo spill, a spill in Venezuela, and another spill in Texas, in the saltwater environment and freshwater environment, bitumen will sink. That is a huge problem. We have a lot of work to do to handle the risk we have already for B.C.'s coast, let alone with a sevenfold increase in traffic.
In the House of Commons on June 1st, 2017. See this statement in context.